1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a light-sensitive composition comprising silver halide dispersed in a polymerizable compound, and further relates to a light-sensitive material comprising a light-sensitive layer containing silver halide, a reducing agent and a polymerizable compound provided on a support.
2. Description of prior arts
Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 45(1970)-11149 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,275), 47(1972)-20741 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,667) and 49(1974)-10697, and Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 57(1982)-138632, 57(1982)-142638, 57(1982)-176033, 57(1982)-211146 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,997), 58(1983)-107529 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,637), 58(1983)-121031 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,450) and 58(1983)-169143 describe light-sensitive materials which comprise a support and a light-sensitive layer containing silver halide, a reducing agent and a polymerizable compound which are employable in image forming methods in which an image is formed on a portion of silver halide latent image through polymerization of the polymerizable compound by action of the reducing agent.
These light-sensitive materials can be also used in improved image forming methods employing a dry process which are described in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 61(1986)-69062 and 61(1986)-73145 (the contents thereof are described in U.S. patent Ser. No. 775,273 and European Patent Provisional Publication No. 0174634A2), 61(1986)-183640, 61(1986)-188535 and 61(1986)-228441 (the contents thereof are described in U.S. patent Ser. No. 827,702). In the image forming methods, a recording material (i.e., light-sensitive material) comprising a light-sensitive layer containing a light-sensitive silver salt (i.e., silver halide), a reducing agent, a cross-linkable compound (i.e., polymerizable compound) and a binder provided on a support is imagewise exposed to form a latent image, and then the material is heated to polymerize within the portion where the latent image of the silver halide has been formed.
The above-mentioned image-forming methods are based on the principle in which the polymerizable compound is polymerized in the portion where a latent image of the silver halide has been formed.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 61(1986)-260241 (corresponding to U.S. patent Ser. No. 854,640) describes another image forming method in which the polymerizable compound in a portion where a latent image of the silver halide has not been formed is polymerized. In this method, when the material is heated, the reducing agent functions as polymerization inhibitor in the portion where a latent image of the silver halide has been formed, and the polymerizable compound in the other portion is polymerized.
In these light-sensitive materials, silver halide is preferably contained in oil droplets of the polymerizable compound or microcapsules containing the polymerizable compound to improve sensitivity of the light-sensitive material and sharpness of the obtained image. In the oil droplets and microcapsules, it is preferred that droplets of the silver halide emulsion are finely and stably dispersed in the polymerizable compound. A method for emulsifying the silver halide emulsion in an organic medium such as the polymerizable compound is stated in Research Disclosure No. 18755 (1979). However, fineness and stability of droplets of the silver halide emulsion in the resulting emulsion are not satisfactory.